Taxonomic name: Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms: Lepus cuniculus Linnaeus, 1758
Common names: Europäisches Wildkaninchen (German), kaninchen (German), lapin
(French), rabbit (English)
Organism type: mammal
Native to southern Europe and North Africa, the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has been
introduced to all continents, except Antarctica and Asia. In many countries, rabbits cause
serious erosion of soils by overgrazing and burrowing, impacting on native species that
depend on undamaged ecosystems.
Description
Grey-brown fur and white-grey belly. Adults 1000-2000 g. Two pairs of upper incisors; the
second smaller incisors are behind the first, a feature that distinguishes leporids from rodents.
They are smaller than adult hares.
Occurs in:
agricultural areas, desert, natural forests, planted forests, range/grasslands, ruderal/disturbed,
scrub/shrublands, urban areas
Habitat description
Desirable features of ideal rabbit habitat include an annual rainfall of <1000mm, a sunny
aspect, light soil, and adequate cover close to feeding grounds kept closely grazed. Although
rabbits can tolerate higher rainfall, they do so only on light soils and where other animals help
to maintain a short sward. In wetter areas, rabbits favour dunelands, dry stony riverbeds,
limestone hills with outcropping rocks, and sunny coastal slopes. They usually avoid cold and
wet conditions, and are absent from alpine lands, unbroken scrub, and heavily built-up areas
(Norbury and Reddiex, 2005). Although usually an animal of open country, in New Zealand
rabbits have survived in low numbers on a few forested islands where the forest is low and
not very dense (SPREP, 2000).
General impacts
Rabbits cause severe damage to the natural environment and agricultural areas. They compete
with native wildlife for food and shelter, and contribute to a decline in the numbers of many
native plants and animals. They can also enhance negative impacts on native species by
supporting large populations of predators such as cats and foxes. They cause extensive
erosion through browsing and loss of plant cover and often destroy the habitat of many small
animals. Rabbits also compete with livestock for food (Courchamp et al. 2003; Norbury and
Reddiex, 2005).
Uses
Valuable to humans as a domestic and game animal, rabbits were often released onto islands
in the past as a food source for marooned sailors (Berman, 2002).
Geographical range
The rabbit was originally confined to the Iberian Peninsula and was first transported around
the Mediterranean by Phoenician traders. Rabbits were domesticated in French monasteries
between AD 600 and 1000 and domestic rabbits probably reached Britain in the twelfth
century (the young were considered a delicacy) and were later spread throughout the British
Isles, and to other islands in the north-east Atlantic. Much later, rabbits were put ashore from
ocean-going sailing ships in South Africa (from Holland) in 1654, Chile in the mid eighteenth
century, the Falkland Is in 1764, New Zealand in 1777, and Australia in 1788 (Norbury and
Reddiex, 2005). Rabbits have been introduced to over 800 islands so far for reasons ranging
from a food source for shipwrecked sailors to a source of amusement for tourists.
Introductions have varied in success from complete failure to populations so large that they
destroy almost all vegetation on the island (Flux and Fullagar, 1992).
Introduction pathways to new locations
Acclimatisation societies: In the 19th and early 20th century, Acclimatisation Societies in
Australia and New Zealand brought rabbits from Great Britain in an attempt to transplant the
mother country to the new colonial frontier.
Other: If put ashore for shipwrecked people they usually died out, but they persisted on some
islands.
Ship: Sailing ships in the 18th and 19th century sometimes carried live rabbits for food.
Local dispersal methods
Natural dispersal (local):
Management information
Management options include fencing, warren ripping, baiting, fumigating and biological
control with myxomatosis, rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus and fleas as vectors (Moseby et
al. 2005; Richardson et al. 2007). Rabbits have been eradicated from a number of islands
including Enderby Island (710 ha) in the Auckland Islands group (NZ), Phillip Island (190
ha) in the Norfolk Island group and Round Island (151 ha), Mauritius. Both the Enderby
Island and Round Island campaigns used brodifacoum as Talon 20P® baits. Merton (1987)
gives details of the Round Island operation including bait preference and acceptance trials,
and tolerance of reptiles to the anti-coagulant poison used. Details of the successful operation
on Enderby and Rose Islands are available in Torr (2002).
Preventative measures: Accidental introduction of rabbits to an island is unlikely. They are
relatively easy to detect in cargo or baggage and strict surveillance at ports of entry will
prevent most attempts to introduce this animal.
Physical: Shooting of rabbits is an inefficient method of control but unlike poisoning it does
not kill predators of rabbits such as cats. Where rabbits are present with other grazing
animals, removal of the latter will often result in the growth of rank vegetation unsuitable for
rabbits; this can be used as a method of partial rabbit control.
Chemical: In New Zealand, poisoning has most often been carried out with compound 1080
added to carrots or oats and spread from the air. On small islands, acute poisons such as
phosphorus, cyanide, strychnine and compound 1080 are all likely to kill non-target species.
Second-generation anti-coagulant poisons such as brodifacoum have been used successfully
against rabbits although precautions are often necessary to protect non-target species (Flux
1993).
Biological: In 1998, a virus, rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD, formerly called RCD), was
introduced to New Zealand illegally. In some areas it has killed many rabbits, but whether it
will continue to be effective in the long-term is doubtful. Myxomatosis, a contagious and
often lethal disease specific to rabbits is sometimes suggested for rabbit control. This not only
requires flea or mosquito vectors but causes considerable suffering to the animals affected.
Furthermore, eradication by such means is unlikely. Atkinson (SPREP 2000) does not
recommend use of either RHD or myxomatosis on Pacific islands. Flux (1993) examined the
relative effectiveness of various methods of rabbit control using a sample of 607 islands
distributed throughout the world. He found that more islands had been cleared of rabbits by
traditional methods of trapping, shooting, and poisoning than by introduced predators,
competitors, or disease (SPREP, 2000).
Nutrition
Rabbits eat grass and other herbaceous vegetation. They need a diet of less than 40% fibre,
10-20% protein for maintenance, and 14% protein for reproduction. They can be very
selective in their choice of food, practise coprophagy, and ferment food in the hind gut.
Reproduction
Placental. Sexual. Rabbits have an endogenous reproductive cycle mainly modulated by day
length and nutrition.
18-30 young per female adult per year. Females as young as 3 months can breed.
This species has been nominated as among 100 of the "World's Worst" invaders
Reviewed by: David Berman, Department of Natural Resources, Toowoomba, Queensland,
Australia.
Compiled by: David Berman, Department of Natural Resources, Toowoomba, Queensland,
Australia & IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
To contribute information, please contact Shyama Pagad.
Last Modified: Wednesday, 19 July 2006